Texas Down, Four to Go Until Morgantown
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I thought KU dealt with the press just fine. For all the pressing Texas did the forced only 1 turnover; I would call it pretty damn good.
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I was really puzzled with Smart’s decision just to try to get stops in the last two minutes. We weren’t even in the bonus so they needed fouls just to get us to that point, and we ran two full possessions before shooting in the last two minutes. Didn’t seem very, uh Smart.
Nice summary of the game.
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@HighEliteMajor yup! Mitch wins us a couple possessions each game, and lately with his rebounding not being as much of a liability he has been consistently a net plus in his minutes. Quietly developing into a solid piece.
Really liked how Doke came out second half. I agree he is skilled and I think takes an academic approach to the game. Like a bigger, more raw version of Perry. Hard work in the gym means he’s got a bag of moves but he doesn’t necessarily go to them without prompting from Self. the game hasn’t slowed down enough to adapt reflexively.
I think re: Svi we will see much more hot than cold this year. He has been money. I’m blown away with his ability to hit big shots with the game in the balance. every bit as clutch as Devonte in that.
At the half Devonte had 16 and rest of team has 25. At game end the scoring was very balanced and Devonte had 8 assists. Devonte has been proving himself capable of different roles on demand. Really great. I feel like this adaptability can only bode well coming from your leader and only really hurts you when they are off and the team around them stinks. Hopefully our bigs get cleared and then a creative PG will be most effective.
Echo your feelings about Malik. He needs to get to a place where he is in a groove, but I’m afraid being on a loaded blue blood with top 10 guards incoming is rattling him. I trust Self on his decision to let him play through for the time being. I’m assuming Self knows his ceiling is higher than his current play.
Really happy with the effort! Solid win.
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Don’t count out Cunliffe. Yea agree we need another skilled big man. About to get two.
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Prima Donna? UM like Newman rebounded all his missed shots? Do like Garrett
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Poor Press Break? KU only turned it over once on the press of Texas? HUH?
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Yes UDoka is the man
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Live and the Die by the three? The game has changed. It is possible for a team/player to own the 3 point shot. Just ask the Warriors. Meaning you can count on the three ball.
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Zone? Yes coach is awesome.
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Yes Mitch is awesome. Glad to see you finally admit it.
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Book it? Count me in
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Maybe you think SVI should go for 30 every game? Looked pretty good to me tonight.
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Yes agree hang Frank Mason’s jersey.
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Also funny how Vick gets a us a quiet 21 on 5 of 8 from 3 and I just remember DT and Svi shooting threes with the exception of a super athletic contested catch and shoot from a dead sprint in the corner from Vick. I would not be surprised if Vick ends up with an NBA career. Wait til he shows up at the combine and people wonder who this kid who averaged 16 for Kansas is with a 40% trey gun and they watch him jump out the building.
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Swell summary/analysis, as usual.
Agree with take on Doke. His footwork looked super, especially against the best shot blocker since Withey. Doke didn’t let the blocks screw with his head. Fine game by Doke. Frankly, if we had another center to back him up, Doke would muscle Bamba on both ends and likely neutralize Bamba.
Malik? The guy just flat refused to play the clock until 1:30 to go. Malik was single handedly responsible for how close it got.
Garrett? I just don’t see him replacing Malik unless Malik has a melt down, which he might. I agree that something seems to be going on beneath the surface. Re: Garrett, he seemed very tentative to me—more so than prior games.
Vick, Svi, Doke all played very well. Devonte was exceptional. Malik had some good stretches.
When this quintet shows up making treys they are tough to beat.
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Post game Self said Doke was game time decision w/back problems? Malik has a bad foot, think it’s been an on going problem. I know Doke fell really hard on that over the back foul, 2nd half.
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Higgins set Shaka up early. Nice foreshadowing of the technical to come when Higgins gave him a warning for having his toes on the coach box line. When he gave that warning it was only a matter of time before Higgins found any reason at all to t him up. And then he went after him on the sideline. Higgins probably still fuming over the money Smart and VCU cost him in 2011. (i keed, i keed)
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Very rare to see a ref get mad enough to start following a coach.
Shaka and Wiggins(?) need counseling!
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@HighEliteMajor I really enjoy your summaries. Keep it up, please. I was surprised by the DNP for Cunliffe. I thought he might get some time. You’re right though, our issue is not in the back court. Offensively that is…defense leaves a little to be desired. Doke did a great job against Bamba (who was unbelievable). Muscled in a couple of buckets on good moves against a superior defender. Bamba even intimidated the refs…they surely blew that block on Svi…looked like a clear goal tend to me. Great win on the road…some teams will lose at UT. I like your confidence heading into Morgantown…I’m not as confident about TCU, though. They are tough to read due to the weak schedule. The OU game tonight will tell us something about them
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The press did work. But it is still ugly. Mostly on the entry. We throw it into a trap far too often. It will need to improve vastly. That press break will not get it done in Morgantown. The zone was interesting. It worked mostly. It could get better with more use. But too many times guys getting pulled to far out of position. I’d venture to say Bill let them have it as a bailout last night to pick up a road win and good for him. UT is poor enough from Trey to make that work. In it’s present state it simply will not work vs a good Trey shooting team. Did see a lil bit of morphing as @jaybate-1-0 suggested in another thread. I like that and can see Coach using that to matchup on the Trey assassins if we have to go that route down the line. Garrett’s defense is terrific. His game is terrific. He just doesn’t score. But he makes things happen and others score from it. Fun to watch him. Newman… What can ya say… Something is in his head. Low confidence. Or isnt happy here. Not meshing with the guys. Something. Idk what. But as I suggested on slack last evening. His body language very much reminds me of Keith Langford post Roy.
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Not shocked about Cunliffe not playing. KU never got into serious foul trouble so there was no need for him to play.
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I think Newman is still in his mindset from Mississippi St. where he was far and away their best player. He still seems reluctant to pass when he gets the ball. Those ill advised 3’s in the second half were momentum killers for KU. Each time KU built the lead up to double digits, it was a Newman brick that started a Texas run. If I were opposing coaches, I would back off Newman to entice passes to him because the ball isn’t leaving his hands and let him shoot 3’s all.
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Press break was fine. Garrett I believe had the lone turnover against the press which is likely why he didn’t play much down the stretch.
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Udoka is definitely an impressive specimen of a human being. The biggest knock on him besides his FT shooting is that he needs to learn how to put some arc on his hook shot. He shoots it so flat that it’s a pretty easy shot to block for anyone near his height.
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Agreed, 3 point shooting is the calling card of this team and KU has 3 guys over 45% right now. The key to March success is having at least one of them on each game.
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I expect to see a lot more zone going forward for KU to try and keep Udoka out of foul trouble. KU does not have the depth to absorb foul trouble so I believe that’s the true reason why Self went to the zone.
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Mitch is an effort guy. That’s always going to be his legacy at KU because he’s not a skilled player compared to his teammates.
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TCU next Saturday is going to be a tough game. There’s not going to be the normal crowd support for KU that there is there because TCU put that game in a mini plan to get more TCU fans in the arena and the game sold out before single game tickets ever went on sale. TCU is also a really good shooting team with a big that won’t be outmuscled by Udoka.
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Svi is shooting 45% this year from 3, his cold stretches aren’t long lasting this year.
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I don’t know if I can put Mason ahead of Sherron personally, but his #0 needs to be in the rafters as early as possible.
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I was privy to Bilas’ conversation with his wife when he got home after the game.
She: how was the game dear?
He: Texas had a really great player.
She: how did Kansas look?
He: Texas had a really great player, he even knew how to block shots that were going down without the refs calling it.
She: how did Kansas look?
He: that kid had like 22 blocks.
She: WHO WON THE GAME?
He: I forget but that Bambi kid was spectacular.
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@Texas-Hawk-10 Malik had a to against the press, pretty sure
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HawkChamp said:
Tonight was a unique game due to Bamba’s ability to protect the ENTIRE paint. This was a game where we absolutely had to have three point shooting or else it’s probably an L.
No other team has a defensive player on the level of Bamba, and I’ve watched just about every top 50-75 team play. Things should be a bit easier in the paint the next few games.
Bamba will have a long NBA career. There are some pretty nice college post players around the Big 12 but definitely no one else like Bamba.
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My high school team used to run that 1-2-1-1 press Texas ran. Yours may have too. Texas ran it full court challenging the entry pass and trapping immediately in the corners. In recent years some teams, including KU, have run it 3/4 court just to slow tempo and get offenses to initiate farther out in half court. It can have differing effects. Texas played it to disrupt immediately. It makes opponents look disrupted and hurried, but KU broke it exactly the way we were taught to break it, too. I trust you and HEM, so I will keep a closer eye on the press passing next time we see one, and we likely will—not just from WVU—from long bench teams trying to tire our short bench team. But again, it looked text book
to me the way we were breaking it.Regarding WVU, they will add more muscling to the pressing and they will vary between full and 3/4 application. Can’t recall if they are all 1-2-1-1, or 2-2-1, or man, or some of each, but they have given us recognition issues in the past.
Speaking of recognition, it seems that lesser teams defending elite teams running key 1 and 2 year players in rotations SHOULD emphasize varied defenses and varied “appearances” of defenses that spike recognition situations to exploit the new players unfamiliarity with such.
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Crimsonorblue22 said:
Post game Self said Doke was game time decision w/back problems? Malik has a bad foot, think it’s been an on going problem. I know Doke fell really hard on that over the back foul, 2nd half.
Oh hell!!! Not another great center prospect with back problems. He looked so good! Thx for heads up.
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Blown said:
i thought they broke the press easily…once they finally got it in it was moved up the court quickly.
once the 2 new bigs come in i expect Newman’s minutes to dwindle. he just doesn’t bring much at all right now.
I agree with you on the press, other then SOME trouble with getting inbounds and that’s not going to happen every game - -why? - -because not every team has a guy with a 9’6 wing span defending the inbounds pass. - -when the ball was in we broke with ease, not wanting to attack as much during this stretch of the game.
They didn’t press until like the final 5-6 minutes of the game trying to create turnovers - they got ONE in the final minutes the TO from Vick at mid court - -really crisp passes working it besides that getting into fore court -This was in a point of the game when we were trying to run some clock instead of attacking. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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HawkChamp said:
@Blown agreed about the press. Besides getting the ball in, I thought we did fine.
We did do fine. – -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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JayHawkFanToo said:
I thought KU dealt with the press just fine. For all the pressing Texas did the forced only 1 turnover; I would call it pretty damn good.
Exactly - - far from ugly. They done really well with the press, struggles some inbounds but again a 9’6 wing span defending inbounds will do that, like you said their press created ONE turnover that’s it, I would say they done pretty good, that is the advantage of having 4 ball handlers on the floor like that. - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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@approxinfinity Not making excuse for Malik in any ways - -just making a statement where I read and hadn’t heard before reading this morning - Coach Self said Malik has been playing with a bad foot – didn’t realize that, need him to turn it up for sure.
having said that though even something such as a injured foot can throw your mechanics off jut hope he can get it straightened out as we need everybody to contribute . - -ROCK CHALK ALL DAY LONG BABY
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approxinfinity said:
Also funny how Vick gets a us a quiet 21 on 5 of 8 from 3 and I just remember DT and Svi shooting threes with the exception of a super athletic contested catch and shoot from a dead sprint in the corner from Vick. I would not be surprised if Vick ends up with an NBA career. Wait til he shows up at the combine and people wonder who this kid who averaged 16 for Kansas is with a 40% trey gun and they watch him jump out the building.
| | | LaCobra is quietly turning into a star. This guy can REALLY play. He is a GREAT complement for both Devonte and Vick. He is doing an impressively diversified job and not losing that killer edge he has by thinking too much. He’s wing. He’s wing point. He’s baseline. He shoots outside. He oops inside. He’s high post. He puts it on the deck. He walks. He talks. He crawls on his belly like a reptile!! Come one, come all! Step right up, step right up! See the incredible Omni-directional Hyper Morphing Baller Man!!!
I really, really, REALLY like how Vick is playing.
Next season he may supernova at point, too!!!
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Imagine Vick watching Oscar Robertson feeds all off season and next year backing PGs down in isolations for about 10 game winning buckets next season to lead us to our 15th consecutive title!!!
If Udoka’s back gives out, Self may have him doing it this season.
LaCobra is a weapon that has barely been tapped still.
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Jayballer54 said:
Blown said:
i thought they broke the press easily…once they finally got it in it was moved up the court quickly.
once the 2 new bigs come in i expect Newman’s minutes to dwindle. he just doesn’t bring much at all right now.
I agree with you on the press, other then SOME trouble with getting inbounds and that’s not going to happen every game - -why? - -because not every team has a guy with a 9’6 wing span defending the inbounds pass. - -when the ball was in we broke with ease, not wanting to attack as much during this stretch of the game.
Bamba didn’t defend the inbounds pass after a Texas make. He was deep covering Udoka/Mitch. He did defend when KU was inbounding the ball on their own end when Graham was the guy passing it in.
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Ok, why is conventional wisdom to run clock with a 10 point lead and 5 minutes to go? Why not attack the full court press and just score those easy baskets? Scoring puts the clock even more in your favor.
I think KU/Devonte did a good job breaking the press, but I’d like to see them attack out of the press instead of holding the ball and letting the D reset. It’s like they relax after the ball is across half court instead of reamaining aggressive.
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@jaybate-1.0 When Texas went to the zone, I absolutely loved the Vick pass to Svi in the corner. This wasn’t Washington, where Vick looked really confused what to do in the middle of that zone. The second Vick got the ball in the middle, he instantly whipped the ball to Svi, which was a wide open 3. Now that is growth.
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I’ll hit on this press break thing in a little more detail.
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Premise 1 - Self has stated on many occasions that we need to make teams pay for pressing. That we have not attacked.
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Premise 2 - Self has said on many occasions that we need to play faster as a team, based largely on the guard based composition of our team.
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Premise 3 - That you want to get the other team to stop pressing.
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Our Press Break - As mentioned, slow and methodical. Passive. Did we get the ball stolen multiple times? No. Did we win? Yes. But we all know, as with prior years, simply winning doesn’t mean that the problems apparent in winning go away. They rear their ugly heads when it matters most. When Landen Lucas played well, should have still been concerned? Of course. He simply did not have the ability to rim protect and control the paint with Lucas’ low talent ceiling – Oregon dominated us inside. Wichita St. destroyed us. Villanova won the title that should have been ours. Obvious issues that all reared their heads when it counted most. We should not look at this only from the perspective of winning the game we just played. That’s too simplistic. We’re trying get better. This is a phase of the game where we can easily get better.
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Press Slows Us Down - We play four guards. To be at our best, we need to play a faster paced game. Self has mentioned it. When teams press, what happens? It slows … us … way … down. That hurts our game, and impacts how we play best. If we’re a feed the post, win 62-56 type of team, sure; matriculate the ball down the court. But we’re not. The press, and our methodical approach, takes us away from what we want to do. If we’re the better team, which we are in most every case, more possessions mean a better chance to win.
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Press Can Speed You Up - Of course it can, if you do not have a plan. It can make you take dumb shots. I worry more about that with a team of inexperienced guards, that has more of a conventional small forward, power forward alignment.
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Why Attack? - If you don’t attack, and make the opponent pay, then the opponent can press with impunity, and control the pace of the game – and continue pressing. We’ve seen Kansas over the years fall victim to opponents dictating pace. It’s even more critical now when playing fast, with four guards, is necessary due to our interior inadequacies.
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Game Situations - There could be game situations where a methodical press break is the best strategy. However, my comment is more based on what I’ve seen year in, and year out. The same passive press break. I did not see Self say anything about not making Texas pay for the press, so it’s possible Self thought slower was better last night. But I’m talking more on a macro level, on how we always deal with the press.
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Ball Handling - This team has one very good ball handler in DG and Newman (who is a tick below DG), is effective dribbling; and three good ball handlers in Vick, Garrett, and Svi. We don’t have a ball handler as good as Mason was last season, but we have wide ranging competence with the ball. Good passers, decent dribblers. We have nothing in the backcourt that approaches the on-ball incompetence of Selden or Wiggins, for example. Interestingly, with on-ball incompetence, the quick passing is the tool you desperately need, and it’s part of the reason why that group was just horrible against the press. Remember Atlantis?
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How Is The Press Most Effective - First and foremost, when it is organized. If a team is running a classic 1-2-1-1 press, the first four players (situated in a diamond) have to be set up. this permits traps to the forecourt corners, and allows the player in the back of the diamond to be in position to intercept or slide to stop sideline dribbling, which this press invites. A zone press is designed to encourage passing and dribbling in certain patterns. The 1-2-1-1 is designed so that the “1” at the back of the diamond has opportunities to intercept. That player has to be in position to do so, with respect to the ball position. If he’s not, the press breaks down very easily.
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Get The Ball Inbounds As Quickly As Possible - Why Get the ball inbounds quickly? This is the most important item – whoever is closest to the ball, get it in NOW. By doing so, this does not give the defense/press time to get set up. This is critical to destroying a zone press. When they can’t set up, they can’t trap properly and they’re not in a position to intercept. All zone presses are designed to trap in certain areas, and intercept in certain areas – by inbounding quickly, you can attack the less dangerous areas. This is very basic but critical to attacking the press, and making them pay for pressing. How quickly do you get the ball? If you can, before it hits the floor after a made basket. It was comical on one occasion when the ball went through the rim, Marcus Garrett was right there, and he avoided the ball like the plague, holding his arms up in a “not me” fashion. Texas set up their press when the designated inbounder, Svi, got the ball to inbound. But that’s how Self has done it. Guys run away from the ball as it falls out of the basket. One designated inbounder. I understand if there is one guy you say “you never inbound it” because he’s just horrible, but no one on this team is careless with the ball. It’s even easier because we have only one non-guard to inbound the ball to. The only rule might be, don’t throw it in to Doke. Every player on this team, but for Doke, is capable of receiving the inbounds pass and then making the next pass.
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The Second Pass - That “next pass” is critical. The second pass has to be delivered quickly so as not to allow a trap. If the player has the ball in a non-trap area, he will have a bit more time. After the inbounds, the receiver of the pass quickly locates a teammate moving down the court, delivers the ball, and the race the basket is on. We’ve all seen it before – by other teams. And against us. One terrific strategy is to deliver it immediately back to the player who inbounded the ball, and he takes off – he’s unaccounted for as the press traps the inbounds pass. Everyone floods down the court in specific lanes. You create a fast break – 2 on 1, 3 on 2. How many times do we ever do that? Big dunks breaking the press, going to the hoop; or pull it back for a three. This team would thrive on that. Nothing gets a coach out of a press quicker than giving up easy hoops. It’s exactly why Self waits until the last minute (sometimes maddeningly) to press – he fears the easy hoop.
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Basic Press Break Strategy - One big rule, unless you have an elite ball handling wizard, is to pass quickly to break the press. Pass quickly. We imploy a hold the ball until the pressure arrives and then pass. This is slow, risky, and really, pretty easy to counter if one wants to take some risks. Breaking the press with the dribble is much the same as attacking a zone defense – you can attack the seams on the dribble. With a press, attacking that seam and looking to hit a player moving down court is a killer. Why don’t NBA teams employ pressing regularly? In fact, why does pressing decrease as talent increases? Easy – better players can break the press and make the pressing team pay with an easy basket.
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Inbound Spot - Texas press was asking for us to inbound exactly where we did … we used a three man scissor to get open with our guys moving to the corner many times (right where they want to trap). Saw a few comments on this item. This is hard to avoid – when you methodically allow the defense to set up. Moving quickly when the ball comes out of the net helps defeat that problem.
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Tactics of the Pressing Team - Think about this … how many times have you seen the pressing team hit the basketball after a made basket? Tip it away? Grab it and throw it to the ref? Or even strategically get their leg under the ball as it comes down so that it bounces away? If you’re looking, quite a bit. Why? Why do that? To give them time to set up. It’s age old tactics that pressing teams employ. It’s why refs warn and can give technicals for interfering with the ball after a made basket.
This is an aspect of the game where Kansas can get better and more aggressive. This team needs advantages. Being more aggressive in the press break is one of those advantages just waiting to be exploited.
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Bamba defended in bound plays. They were successful keeping us from running our flex play where we lob it to doke and run that free throw in play. Otherwise the press did give us some issue at first, Newman seems like the type that will turn it over horribly against press virginia
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I don’t think Newman fits on this team. He just doesn’t seem to gel with anyone, there is zero rhythm in anything he does. It’s the biggest disappointment to this team right now. Id say Preston but he’s barely apart of the team as it is. Let me ask this question. Has Newman made one play all season where you were like oh wow that’s nice? I watched him in particular last night and he picks and chooses where to exert effort. Some plays his defense is stellar, some plays offensively he makes the right read, pass etc but there is very little consistent effort in his game. If I was Self I’d be trying figure how to motivate him.
I like bringing him off the bench, I think he’s shown he’s not a starter in 13 games yet. Garrett just fits better with our other 3 guards right now. Garrett rebounds, defends and moves the ball as well as anyone on the team. Important that he continues to do those things
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Shaka is showing his limitations by mis-using Bamba.
EVERYTHING should be focused on him.
They should be running all 2-2-1 zone press with him as anchor, NOT 1-2-1-1. Really wasting Bamba in a 1-2-1-1 zone. Wooden proved long ago with great big men that you want a symmetrical zone up front that slows the ball progress, minimizes break throughs, lets the big man both rest, and “see” the play develop to maximize his anticipation for any break through.
A 1-2-1-1 is the WORST zone for Bamba to play!!! It encourages fast pace, lots of long passing. Almost every possession IS a break through. Worse still, properly played, the 1-2-1-1 requires the back-most player (which should be Bamba) to run like hell to half court to trap for full effect!
The 1-2-1-1 is designed for each defender to pinch/trap sideline-baseline, then sideline line, then sideline-midcourt line. After each trap, the back side (non trapper) man races madly back into a passing lane beyond the trap, while the two trappers, after the passout, then race madly back to half court and position for another trap. The 1-1 players rush forward in series for the next two traps if two more traps occur, and forward players fall back to fill the 1-1 players slots. Thus, played correctly, either Bamba is pulled away from the basket for near mid court traps, or Bamba stays near the basket, but in the latter scenario the press is already broken and the offense is coming helterskelter and Bamba is exposed to numbers and fouling and lack of anticipation.
What a dope Shaka is to be playing 1-2-1-1 full court with a great center, at either 1-1 position. The 2-2-1 feeds the slowed down break to the 1 player (Bamba) with plenty of time to anticipate and commit under control, and also grab the rebound and release a cherry pick pass.
If he insists on using 1-2-1-1 with Bamba it should only be 3/4 court to slow tempo, as Self has used it some.
Smart got the Ts because he knew he was being out coached, but couldn’t understand how. He needs to study and steal from Self instead of trying to beat Self with Shaka’s system. I’m picking on Smart, because he could be a great coach, if he would open up his head and learn. He has an opportunity for a post doc from Self and instead he is trying to prove a guy with a ring, 13 straight titles, and 83% W&L can be beaten by his system. Wake the intercourse up, Shaka, before you’re gone! Your players love you. You work hard. You can needle and praise. You love the game. You have charisma and presence. You’ve got the processor speed. You’re like Frank Martin, only you’re not LEARNING from Self the way Frank decided to do. All you gotta do is open up your head and let it all Rush in! Self is a savant. And he loves coaches and the profession. He can’t help helping persons get better. It’s what he does. It’s all he does!!! He is THE GET-BETTERNATOR!!! It’s obvious he thinks you could be good, and that you’re a character, same as he thought of Frank Martin, when everyone else thought Frankie was just a jerk. But you’ve got to open up!!!
Shaka should probably be shit-canned just for this waste of Bamba!
And Bamba? What was he thinking not coming to KU, UK, Duke, or UNC, where coaches knew how to coach such a potentially great big man!!! Someone needs to wake him up, too.
It is a crime against basketball humanity for such a marvelous big man prospect to play for Shaka in Austin, until Shaka and Bamba wake up. Off rhyming names isn’t a good enough reason to play for a coach! This is like sending Wilt Chamberlain to Wyoming. Outrageous! I hate this recruiting system!!!
I smell the foul odor of dump truck exhaust trying to stack a team to stop Self instead of doing what’s best for Bamba and basketball!!!
Rock Chalk!
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Agreed. Bamba is tough to pass over, but once it’s in he’s worthless in the press as he was used.
I’d have him pressure the inbound passer every under the basket inbounds play though.
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KUSTEVE said:
@jaybate-1.0 When Texas went to the zone, I absolutely loved the Vick pass to Svi in the corner. This wasn’t Washington, where Vick looked really confused what to do in the middle of that zone. The second Vick got the ball in the middle, he instantly whipped the ball to Svi, which was a wide open 3. Now that is growth.
||| it was an act of beauty!! Houston, we have learning!!! AND that’s one of the great joys of being a fan, too—getting to the point of being able to see and share these kinds of learning moments by players and teams. Getting better is the greatest feeling in the world. It’s why we keep getting up in the morning instead of shooting ourselves.
It’s why THE WEEK OF GETTING BETTER between SEMESTERS is so sacred and thrilling to me. I thank Self for teaching me the week of getting better more than anything else but the 83% W&L and the ring.
And did u see Svi shaking Malik’s hand and meaning it after the free throw down the stretch, even though Malik bone headed and forgot we were playing the clock!!! Malik isn’t out of the woods yet. Republics and individuals aren’t rebuilt in a day. But by god him playing that game with his bell rung and enabling the team to win it with Svi’s last shot; THAT is the stuff that’s teams are made from!!! Svi saw past the head case to the human being that is like him underneath!!! And Malik finally did something OTHER than shoot (which is what he is supposed to do) that the other guys can point to and say: he’s not just a head case—he’s really one of us gutting it out in the trenches!!
It was all beautiful!
And Self was finally fiery at long last!!
Go, Bill, go!!!
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@HighEliteMajor Some great commentary here. I was fortunate to be at this game. I’d like to make one comment about Mohamed Bamba. I have never seen a kid with such incredible blocking skills. The kid is only a freshman, he was an absolute load to handle and looks very smooth for a Freshman. He is a better shot blocker than Jeff W. I don’t see very many teams winning at TX, if we were not hot from 3 point line KU would have lost this game as we had no answer for Bamba.
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BeddieKU23 said:
I don’t think Newman fits on this team. He just doesn’t seem to gel with anyone, there is zero rhythm in anything he does. It’s the biggest disappointment to this team right now. Id say Preston but he’s barely apart of the team as it is. Let me ask this question. Has Newman made one play all season where you were like oh wow that’s nice? I watched him in particular last night and he picks and chooses where to exert effort. Some plays his defense is stellar, some plays offensively he makes the right read, pass etc but they is very little consistent effort in his game. If I was Self I’d be trying figure how to motivate him.
I like bringing him off the bench, I think he’s shown he’s not a starter in 13 games yet. Garrett just fits better with our other 3 guards right now. Garrett rebounds, defends and moves the ball as well as anyone on the team. Important that he continues to do those things
I think he is clashing with Self a bit plus apparently he has a foot injury.
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AsadZ said:
@HighEliteMajor Some great commentary here. I was fortunate to be at this game. I’d like to make one comment about Mohamed Bamba. I have never seen a kid with such incredible blocking skills. The kid is only a freshman, he was an absolute load to handle and looks very smooth for a Freshman. He is a better shot blocker than Jeff W. I don’t see very many teams winning at TX, if we were not hot from 3 point line KU would have lost this game as we had no answer for Bamba.
Imagine Bamba with 50 more pounds, which is going to happen naturally.
Bamba is as incredible a prospect as Embiid—maybe even better. Insanely good!
Azuibuke is turning into something marvelous too.
Azuibuke and Bamba in the same conference make the B12 the toughest conference in the country to win, regardless of the cupcake preconference schedule.
By March, sans injury, Bamba and Azuibuke are going to dominate college basketball. Add WVU and TCU and the B12 in February is going to be an absolute bloodbath of survival combat. I now see why Self is talking about a winner having 5 Losses as feasible. I didn’t see Bamba and Azuibuke developing this fast.
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@jaybate-1.0 I concur, with 50 lbs. of muscle he will be a monster, I would not be surprised if he is a top 5 pick in next year’s draft.
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Had a great time and was good to see all the KU fans. Went to Scholz Garten about 4:30 and 2 older couples from Houston sat at my table. They had been to the 08 championship game and so walked with them to see the team bus come in at 6:00. Told them about the team coming out after the game for autographs and we went our merry way. Ended up sitting to an engineer living in Austin, who had played against Mario in Anchorage and went to KU because of Mario. He had a college buddy who also grad. KU. On the other side was a freshman at KU home with his Mom from Houston and he had on a #4 old time jersey. We were a boisterous crowd. Before the game started I was down near the court and gots lots of pictures during shoot around. Malik was limping the whole time. It was noticeable. Gary Bedore saw me from the press box and came down to say Hi. I told him we would win by 8 but that we were going to win. We talked BPreston and Gary said money needed to be paid back and that for now nobody had the money to pay back. Silvio was right in front of us and I welcomed him to Jayhawk Nation and he said THANKS. Guys were hitting all their 3’s during warmups so had a feeling they were zoned in. Reason Marcus started is because of Malik’s foot I believe. Went up to talk with Jesse and then saw Matt Tait on my way behind where Hanni and Gurley were. I padded Gurley on the shoulder and not realizing they were on the air I told him to call a win and he shushed me. Signed 5 mins. Oh Boy. So I went and sat down. The little towels they handed out that said BEAT KU I took my sharpie and wrote “IN YOUR DREAMS” below it and got a few boos for that.
Seeing the game in person is a lot different than watching them on tv for sure. No replays of one of our 3s on the video boards but had to see the Bamba dunks over and over. I am glad that we played UT last night and not later in the season here because they will get better but it was pretty evident that UT does not have another reliable perimeter shooter. Here is what the long time sports writer in Austin wrote (Kirk Bohls):
"Posted December 30th, 2017 Story highlights Kansas coach Bill Self was so impressed with the defensive prowess of Texas’ Mo Bamba that he thought he blocked the sun. The Jayhawks’ three best players are all shooting better than 44 percent behind the line; Texas has just one near that in the still-recovering Andrew Jones Shaka Smart wants to see more aggressiveness out of Dylan Osetkowski, more rebounding from his guards. The always-competitive, highly charged Big 12 basketball race will end probably as it began on Friday night. With Kansas on top. It’s as certain as the sun rising in the east. You know the sun. The one that Bill Self said he could have sworn he saw Mo Bamba block at the Erwin Center in the league opener. The Texas center didn’t, of course, but maybe only because it was a night game. He did block everything else. “That guy could have blocked the sun tonight,” said Self, whose Jayhawks embarked successfully on a journey that may well lead to an absurd 14th consecutive conference championship in March that should embarrass the rest of the league. “What was that, a solar or lunar eclipse we had a few months ago?” Bamba was arguably the best player on the court in this league opener, what with two blocks shy of a spectacular triple double in a 22-point, 15-rebound, eight-block Big 12 debut. He’s good. Problem was, the next five best players were wearing Kansas uniforms."
"Shaka Smart doesn’t dare tell his team to attempt that many for fear some of the fans in the first row might require medical attention from errant shots. Texas’ offensive deficiencies will likely cement it to a middle-of-the-pack Big 12 place, and even that high only if the Longhorns become defensive gnats. Smart has seven players with an accuracy of 31 percent or worse behind the line with Andrew Jones the only competent shooter at 43 percent. Texas, meanwhile, has vacillated between a very promising team that can beat a Butler or an Alabama team on the road and an offensively challenged squad that can look downright awful and managed to beat a 5-7 Tennessee State team by a single point on a late Matt Coleman floater. That was the same Tennessee State team that Kansas manhandled 92-56 in its season opener. OK then. In short, it’s a sizable gap between an 11-2 Kansas team and a 9-4 Texas club that must refocus quickly with a road date at Iowa State on Monday. That matchup might represent the Longhorns’ best chance of stealing an away victory if Smart’s bunch has any hopes of finishing 9-9 and harboring ambitions of making the NCAA Tournament after a one-year absence. Smart’s not looking nearly that far on the horizon and shouldn’t. But he knows full well how treacherous the Big 12 is with eight other league teams with an RPI in the top 47 and five of them in the top 25. “The gap tonight was six points on the scoreboard,” said Smart the literalist. “In the standings, they’re 1-0, and we’re 0-1.” And in reality, Kansas is a loaded team that has three players who can scorch the nets night after night, and Texas never knows where it’s next perimeter shot is going to come from. It needs more rebounding from its guards, more crucial stops and fewer empty possessions."
I like the hustle from Marcus and think the offense will come. Doke several times put his hand to his back and think that he didn’t attempt to block more because of the strain on his back. Hudy spent a lot of time in warmups stretching him. I looked at box score and told my seat mates “Look Vick has a quiet 21 points.” He was lethal. Devonte’ shined and don’t know if you caught him flashing the “T” sign after Higgins hit Smart. He was just walking away past midcourt and with hands down by his thighs did it twice. That’s why most of the fans booed the call. I yelled at Higgins a couple of times. Except for the goaltends not being called and Roach nocking Devonte across the face and him going down (there was a gasp by us) there were a lot less fouls than I had assumed would be called with Higgins out there. Used my binoculars to watch Coach during time outs. He was really after the guys but after Devonte’ stared down Bamba he was laughing. Silvio sat behind the team bench next to the cop guarding the bench. Never saw CMoore or the Lawson bros. On Sam not playing, I chalk it up to he hasn’t earned the trust from Coach yet. We know Coach will use PT as incentive for other goals so I’ll leave it at that. Mitch really is someone who has the right intentions and desire but he is not strong enough yet. He is as enthusiastic as all others when on the bench but you can see the disappointment in his face when he gets yanked. Toughens them up doesn’t it?
So after the game the kid with the #4 jersey and his mom followed me to get autographs and I let the kid use my sharpie to get Devonte’ to sign his jersey. Made his year he said. He showed me a selfie he had taken with Devonte’ in the cafeteria and had gotten to go to a workout with Hudy. Kid was a fan. As we were leaving the restaurant I grabbed a Jayhawk from one of the tables and gave it to one of the ladies (with an extra sharpie I had brought). Malik was the first one out and I asked him “I saw you limping in warmups. Is it your ankle?” He said “No, just my foot but we all good.” Teahan and Suskind next, then Silvio who had a lot of attention, then Doke (he is big), Svi, Mitch, and so on till Devonte’ was last and then Snacks, Coach T, Coach R, Coach Q and when HSBS came out everyone cheered and Rock Chalked. I waited for my turn with Coach and said my name and that I was the one who wrote to his assistant each year. He is so gracious taking the time for each of us. Wished him as well as all the other players when I got their autographs a HAPPY NEW YEAR. Justin Wesleey was there by the bus. It was DARKKKK - almost 11:00 by then and when I asked Devonte’ for a selfie he had to show me how to do it. Svi looked much bigger to me than I remembered. I told Vick that I loved his momma’s tweets. Bus departed at 11:10. Listened to the local sports talk when I got in my car and they were at the tale end of their show but they felt that “since we only lost to KU by 6” that it was a moral victory. Hoo Boy. Can’t wait to watch Shaka on the 6:00 pm sports spin it like in the article above.
Well Jayhawk fans. As I told Gay Bedore, Jesse and my seat mates, HCBS is going to EARN his money this year. I am so impressed how well he is able to take what talent he has and get us to where we are now. I gotta believe that this team has the players that do NOT want to end the streak and regardless of your views on how important conf. wins are vs. a national championship, it is a “pride” thing and a motivator and can’t wait to see how the ride ends up for us.
Hopefully pictures to come in another post.
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@dylans It might not be conventional wisdom, but it might be wise to run clock on the road when you have a team with hardly any subs, your best shooter has 3 or 4 fouls, and your best big guy has 3 fouls and a bad back.
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Going to have to spend some time downsizing my photos as they exceed the allotted space requirements. Forgot to add that when Silvio was signing my stuff, I asked him when he was going to play and he said “Tuesday.” When Billy signed, I told him we were all praying for him and several chimed in the same. He said he was ready to get this behind him so we will see. Gary actually said that their is also the part about “who the car belonged to issue” that hadn’t been resolved, but said team is optimistic both will be free on Tues. when the NCAA offices open again after the break. Rewatching the game I heard Bilas pretty much say the same thing.
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@RockChalkinTexas thx!
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@jaybate-1.0 imagine if he was playing for Coach Self?
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Flat out best game report by any of us ever!!!
The pro journos would be envious of what you turned out that looked so effortless and flowed so well.
Lucky us for having you at the game!!!
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Ring time!
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@jaybate-1.0 Bamba would have more posts moves
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Instead, clueless Shaka gets Bamba.
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Great stuff. Love hearing this up close side of things
So what your saying about Preston is he needs to pay back money to get eligible and they don’t have it? Sad Situation.
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@BeddieKU23 Yep. That was the gist of what Gary said. OK. Here are the pics. from pregame. Just throwing them out there for anyone who cares to see things a little up and close by a fellow Bucketeer and a few pics from the local press. We had several “floor burns” and was good to see. One other observation - Sam did work out with the starters while Doke worked with Clay, Chris et al. I think you can see from these that Malik stayed in warm ups throughout and looked lackluster (imo).
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(Matt Tait in the background)
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